Florian Modlinger, Team Principal of the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team is certain that his side are “in the championship fight”, despite having endured a weekend to forget at the iconic Monaco E-Prix.
As iconic as the Circuit de Monaco is, Porsche won’t be remembering it for particuarly fond reasons anytime soon, with the Germans having lost the lead of the Constructors’ Championship. Having led the standings since Hyderabad, Porsche slipped to second behind Envision Racing after scoring just a single-point, courtesy of Pascal Wehrlein.
Wehrlein had crossed the line in eleventh but was promoted to tenth following a late penalty for Sam Bird, meaning Porsche at least left Monaco with something. As well as losing the lead of the Constructors’, Wehrlein lost his lead in the Drivers’ Championship, with Nick Cassidy now being in control of the standings. It was an even more frustrating day for António Félix da Costa, who was forced to pit late-on after being hit from behind.
Despite having started nineteenth, Da Costa fought his way into the top ten, before a collision from behind punctured his right rear tyre, forcing him into the pits. The Portuguese driver eventually crossed the line in sixteenth, arguably ending his slim title chances.
It was certainly Porsche’s most difficult race of the season, with qualifying having once again been their downfall after neither driver made the duels. They’ve proven throughout the first half of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship that they do possess an unbelievable package, which is more than “capable of fighting for wins and podium spots”.
The pressure is now on the side to bounce back in Jakarta next month, with Modlinger noting that they will try to score “significantly more points” in the coming races.
“This is a disappointing result. António made up a lot of ground in the race but had to pit with tyre damage due to a rear shunt. More points would’ve been possible for Pascal, as well, today. During the first half of the season, we underlined that we are capable of fighting for wins and podium spots on a variety of racetracks. We still have seven races to go.
“We’re in the championship fight and we’ll do our very best to once again earn significantly more points in the next races.”